Recently, miniaturization of a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material is being developed. More specifically, to miniature a camera for better portability, miniaturization of an image size on a film is in progress. It is, however, well known that such an arrangement incurs a deteriorated printed image quality. More specifically, a smaller image size in a color photographic light sensitive-material necessitates a greater enlargement ration for preparing a specific size of final print, and such a printed image accordingly has high graininess as well as poor sharpness. Therefore, it is necessary, in preparing an excellent print even with a miniaturized image size on a film, to improve the graininess, resolution and sharpness of a film.
As the method to improve graininess, among these requirements for improved silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials, the following are available: a method, as described in Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) No. 62454/1980, for using a rapid-reacting type coupler; a method, as described in the Theory of the Photographic Process, 4th Ed., pp. 620-621, by T. H. James, increasing the number of silver halide particles per unit of photographic material; a method, as described in British Pat. No. 2,080,640A, for using a non-diffusion type coupler for forming a diffusion type dye which emit an appropriately small amount of dye upon reaction with an oxidation product of color developing agent; a method, as described in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 128443/1985, for increasing a ratio of silver iodide content to more than 8 mol %; other improvement methods as described in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 191036/1984, 3682/1985, 128440/1985 and the like; a technique, as described in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 15495/1974, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 7230/1978, 155539/1982 and the like, wherein an improvement is achieved by modifying the constitution of structural layers in a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material.
Though the above-mentioned methods for improving a light-sensitive material positively improves graininess, the degree of improvement is not yet satisfactory. Poor graininess poses an obstacle against common use of a light-sensitive material in an extremely small format for example in the case of so-called "disk-film", and therefore has necessitated improvement.
In Chiba University, Engineering Department, Research Report Vol. 33 (1), Vol. 63 in whole number, (1980), pp. 45-48, is described the technique of "Image improvement of color negative film by rapid processing" by Arai et. al. In this report, it is mentioned that two layers i.e. cyan and magenta layers which are separated from a support are provided with approximately 20 to 30% increase in image information by means of highly active color developer as well as high-temperature rapid processing, and results in increase in sharpness, at a cost of deteriorated graininess in an image. This has been a theory established in the photographic art.
The present invention is intended to solve the above disadvantage. Therefore, the object of the invention is to a rapid processing method for a silver halide color photographic light-sensitive material providing a dye image with excellent sharpness and graininess, as well as a color developer used to embody this method.